Saturday, August 5, 2017

When Does a Lion Lie Inside of a Pig?

The Pig of Lucerne

Below is a photograph of one of Lucerne’s most famous tourist
attraction. You may recognize it as the “Lion of Lucerne”— a rock relief
sculpture of a mortally wounded lion hewn into the rocky face of a
large cliff in a former sandstone quarry near Lucerne, in central
Switzerland. The monument was dedicated in memory of the Swiss Guards
who lost their lives defending the Tuileries Palace in Paris during the
1792 French Revolution. The dying lion symbolizes the soldiers’ courage,
strength, and willingness to die rather than to betray their oath of
service.

In the last two centuries, hundreds of millions of
tourists have seen this monument, which Mark Twain described as “the
most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world". But few people
realize, when they look at the monument, that there are not one but two
different animals carved in the rock face.

Swiss
mercenary soldiers had a long tradition of serving foreign governments.
Long renowned for their valor, they were in particularly high demand in
France and Spain throughout the Early Modern period of European
history. The incident at Tuileries Palace took place on 10 August 1792,
when a mob of working-class Parisians stormed into the palace, and
overwhelmed and massacred the Swiss Guard as the royal family fled
through the gardens. More than six hundred Swiss Guards defending the
Tuileries perished during the fighting. Around two hundred more died in
prison of their wounds or were killed during the September Massacres
that followed.

One of the Swiss guards, second lieutenant Carl
Pfyffer von Altishofen, happened to be on home leave in Lucerne when the
dramatic events at the Tuileries took place. Pfyffer remained in
service until 1801, when his regiment was disbanded, and he returned to
Lucerne. Back home, Pfyffer began preparing plans for a monument that
would honor and memorialize his comrades who had fallen in Paris.

Pfyffer
had to keep his plans a secret because Switzerland was under French
rule at that time, and a monument dedicated to the defenders of the
monarchy was a political impossibility. After the times of revolution
were over and the Swiss regained their independence in 1815, Pfyffer put
his plans into action.

An
early sketch of the lion by sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. Up to this
point, Thorvaldsen had not seen a living lion himself. He instead relied
on illustrations and other representations. Photo credit: The
Thorvaldsens Museum Archives

Pfyffer wanted to commission
the famous classicist Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen to design the
monument. He put out a public appeal for funds and many contributed, but
not everybody. The liberals, in particular, disapproved of the
monument. Eventually, Pfyffer was left with not enough to hire Bertel
Thorvaldsen. The lack of funds didn’t discourage Pfyffer, who somehow
managed to persuade Thorvaldsen for the job.

According to The
Thorvaldsens Museum Archives, Pfyffer had deliberately hidden the fact
from Thorvaldsen that he didn’t have enough money to pay the artist
until he had secured delivery of the model of the sculpture. Relations
between the two also fell out during the later stages of the sculpture’s
contract when Thorvaldsens failed to deliver the work in a timely
manner. Pfyffer became frustrated with the delays which he attributed to
“Thorvaldsen’s infuriating sluggishness and indifference toward the
people waiting for his work”, when Thorvaldsen was irritated at being
commandeered and rushed.When Thorvaldsen learned he wasn’t going
to be paid in full, the indignant artist decided to get even and added
some last minute changes to his sculpture. Thorvaldsen modeled a dying
lion impaled by a spear, symbolizing the fallen Swiss guards. One of the
lion’s paw covered a shield bearing the fleur-de-lis of the French monarchy. Beside him is another shield bearing the coat of arms of Switzerland. Thorvaldsens
didn’t alter the sculpture itself, out of respect of the fallen
soldiers. Instead, he changed the shape of the alcove where the lion lay
to resemble the outline of a pig. Look at the monument again. Do you
see it now?

The Swiss sculptor Pankraz Eggenschwyler was assigned
the actual task of carving the lion monument on the cliff face,
following Thorvaldsen’s model. While working one day, Eggenschwyler fell
from the scaffolding and died. A replacement mason from German named
Lucas Ahorn was brought in to complete the task, which he did in 1821.

Apparently,
nobody noticed the pig until after the sculpture was done. To this day,
one can clearly see the shape of the pig—a subtle but clear message
from Thorvaldsens expressing his disdain of the events of the
commission’s history.

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About Me

This is a blog about what interests me. Here you will find stories on animals, including animal rights material, cute stuff, and random informative posts about weird, beautiful and interesting creatures. Horses, Spotted Hyenas, and Border Collies will make regular appearances.
Also prominently featured will be posts about the Arts. Animation, photography, and the traditional forms, plus "outsider art," film and books.
Other things that will surface here are Japan & the Japanese, John Oliver, surfing, skateboarding and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, interesting places and structures,and my own art, writing and photography.
There will be rants. It's an election year, and I am beginning to have a political dimension to my personality. I am also horrified at the level of injustice and violence visited upon people here in the US and elsewhere - particularly against people of color, immigrants, and the LGBT community. Some of these stories will be very hard to read, but I believe we must read them to keep ourselves mindful of the racist and vicious things that happen every day, to speak out when we see discrimination, and root out its evil from ourselves.